YH's UM Story - How I got into Usher Ministry...

Seems like nobody has the time to write their testimony yet, so let me start first. There are many testimonies that I've got in my time with Usher Ministry, so before I go into any of them, let me share how I got into Usher Ministry in the first place.

I was saved in Dec 2003, and I got into Usher Ministry in Oct 2004. In these 10 short months, I'd a few spiritual encounters, one of which I believe to be a call into usher ministry.

Back in Jun 2004, I was water baptized. And for 6 months since my salvation, I was agonizing over my repeated failures in sharing the gospel with my friends and winning souls. The joy of water baptism made my failures to win the lost even more painful, and I prayed to God,

"Lord, I love you. You have given me so much, but I've given little back to You. What else can I give you? There must be something that I can give you???!!!"

The reply was

"Serve me in a ministry."

Excited that God gave such a clear answer and confident of God's plans for me, I scanned through the church website for a ministry to join. I was basically interested in only 1 ministry: SECURITY MINISTRY. Why? Because they look cool, and I wanted to look cool. Because they looked fierce, and I looked fierce naturally. Security Ministry would seemed to be the best for me both in terms of my desires and my natural gifts (ie I looked fierce...) But the catch was: I needed to be at least an OM and preferably have 1 year of ministry experience (which I don't have) to join Security Ministry.

"How then?" I asked myself. The only other options left had a lot to do with hospitality and care, plus visitations, which I thoroughly rejected. So I asked my CGL how? He said, "since you are good in design, why don't you join TV ministry? You can utilize your design skills there?" I prayed about TV ministry and there was simply no peace of God whenever I thought of joining TV ministry. So I went back to the church website to look at the list of ministries...

There was still the same old list of ministries... I wanted to join Security Ministry... My CGL suggested that I join TV Ministry... How?

So I prayed.

I felt a gentle prompting to join Usher Ministry... What??? I couldn't believe it... Usher Ministry was an "unglam" ministry; I'd great design skills which would go to waste if I'd joined Usher Ministry; I looked too fierce to be a friendly usher; I'd bad experiences dealing with ushers as a new friend; I was enraged by ineffective ushers during Emerge Conference... Basically, I detested Usher Ministry, but the easiest ministry to join would be Usher Ministry...

So I prayed again.

Then the Holy Spirit invited me for a walk in the park that was just beside my home in Pasir Ris. And I walked (in my slippers and shorts... very unglam... but since it was to be a short walk, why bother dressing up? Little did I know the Holy Spirit had other ideas...)

The Holy Spirit and I walked, and walked, and walked, and walked... till we reached the MRT station. I was puzzled because I thought it was supposed to be a short walk, so I asked, "Lord, You want me to board the train?" The Lord answered, "Yes." "But to where?" I asked again. There was no answer.

So I boarded the train.

I was a bit concerned as I boarded the train, because I had little money with me, and was dressed very sloppily. But since the Lord called, so I obeyed. Anxious to alight asap, I asked the Lord whether I should alight at each and every station that we passed by... The Lord gave no answer untill we reached City Hall.

"Lord, should I alight now?"
"Yes."
"Are You sure?" (I just wanted to be sure... Sloppy clothes and slippers stand out in a place like City Hall...)
"Yes!"

I obeyed, and was intensely mystified why the Lord was bringing me on such a journey. But because I was a very young believer, I had a child-like faith in the Lord and just followed His every bidding with little questioning. Subsequently, the Lord led me to a Christian bookstore near Fort Canning Park (or the previous National Library building). I walked in, saw nothing of interest, made a quick turn and was about to walk out when the bookstore owner stopped me and said,

"Sir, the Holy Spirit wants me to talk to you."
"Oh, really~~~?" (I was trying to act cool and aloof... but I was actually freaking out on the inside...)

"Yes, the Holy Spirit wants me to talk to you about serving God"
"Oh, really~~~?" (I acted even cooler...)

"Serving God is about seeking God's righteousness, not self-righteousness."
"Ok~~~" (I was puzzled, because I did not know the difference.)

"Seeking God's righteousness means to obey the Lord, and do things that He has called us to do..."
"..." (I was still trying to act uninterested, but inside my heart was pumping fast in expectation...)

"Seeking self-righteousness means to do unto the Lord what you yourself think is best for the Lord, without regard to what God truly wants... It is pride disguised in religiousity, and IT IS SIN!"
"!!!" (I realised I was being self-righteous all this while!!! Immediately, I repented on the inside and made a silent resolution to seek God's righteousness first always...)

The bookstore owner subsequently said more and spoke more into my life. And the more he spoke, the more I realised God was talking to me through him. God was answering my prayers for a ministry! And God's message was pretty clear:

Listen to Me and seek My righteousness. Join Usher Ministry and learn to be a servant. Don't question My call for you, just obey it.

So immediately I went home and sent in my application online to join Usher Ministry. I also handed in a manual copy to my CGL just to make sure. It was another 3-4 months before Usher Ministry interviewed me and accepted me into the minstry.

And the adventure began...

(Part 1 finished)